The Brotherhood of St Laurence, Consumer Action, Council of the Ageing (COTA), Financial and Consumer Rights Council (FCRC) and Jesuit Social Services welcome the Government’s Interim response to the Independent Review of the Electricity and Gas Retail Markets in Victoria, and the associated Consultation Paper released by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).
We welcome your efforts to get the market moving through the recently announced $50 incentive. We do, however, consider there is urgent need for more systemic reform of the retail energy market. Over many years our organisations have witnessed first-hand the suffering that high energy retail charges have imposed on low income and vulnerable people in Victoria. The Independent Review provided a strong analysis of ongoing market failure in retail energy in Victoria and made a series of sensible recommendations to address that failure. We continue to fully support all recommendations made by the Independent Review.